Understand what assistance and benefits may be available to parents and how to claim...

In Russia, benefits such as child benefit and maternity benefit are paid by the employer (or an educational institution) and reimbursed by the Social Insurance Fund (Fond Socialnovo Strahovanya Rosiyskoy Federaciy / Фонд социального страхования Российской Федерации). Effectively, it is the state that pays the benefits, but calculations are made based on the information supplied by an employer or the educational institution.

The benefits available for Russian citizens, or those foreign nationals registered as a permanent or temporary resident in Russia, are listed below. The exact amounts of benefits can vary greatly from one region to another, so enquiries should be made into how much will be received. It may also be possible to apply for other benefits from regional governments.

Foreign nationals living in the country on a temporary status are eligible to receive maternity benefit and for maternity leave. To find out which other benefits may be applied for, check either with the employer or directly at the regional offices of the Social Insurance Fund in Moscow or St Petersburg.

Maternity/Paternity Benefit (until the age of three) – the smallest of all benefits, this was only recently introduced as part of changes in the benefit programme being rolled out during 2012/13

Maternal Capital (materinsky kapital / материнский капитал) – a reward for mothers who gave birth to (or were planning to give birth to) more than one child, which is aimed to improve living conditions for a young family (for instance, applying for a mortgage or carrying out reconstruction works on an existing home), for education (if a child is younger than 25 years of age) or for a pension

One-time Benefit for Women who Register a Pregnancy in the Early Stages (edinovremennoe posobie zhenschinam, vstavshim na uchet v rannie sroki beremennosti / единовременное пособие женщинам, вставшим на учет в ранние сроки беременности) – the pregnancy must be registered at the local mother and child centre in the first 12 weeks

One-time Benefit paid upon Childbirth (posobie po beremennosti i rodam / пособие по беременности и родам) – This sum is paid for every child born into the same family or for an adopted child (up to three months old)

One-time Benefit paid upon Adoption of a Child (posobie pri usynovlenii, пособие при усыновлении) – This sum is paid for every child adopted and can be received by either of the adopting parents

One-time Benefit for a Pregnant Spouse of a Serving Soldier – a spouse of a serving soldier with at least 180 days of pregnancy can receive a one-time benefit

Monthly Childcare Benefit (ezhemesyachnoe posobie po ukhodu za rebenkom do polutora let / ежемесячное пособие по уходу за ребенком до полутора лет) (until the age of 18 months) – parents taking maternity or child raising leave receive a fixed sum for the first child in the family and an amount for every subsequent child, while those who return to employment after the birth receive a higher amount of 40 percent of an average salary (subject to insurance)

Monthly Benefit for Low-earning Families – Salary statements from theprevious three months must be submitted prior to a claim (until the age of 16)

Monthly Benefit for a Child of a Serving Soldier – This benefit is paid to the child of a soldier who was on duty, if the child was born while the soldier was serving

Benefits are paid from the first day after the end of maternity (or paternity) leave, and no later than ten days after all necessary documents were submitted.